What is Science Olympiad?International nonprofit organization
dedicated to:
•Improving the quality of science education
•Increasing student interest in science and
science careers.
•Achieved by participating in a competition at the Regional, State and National level.
•Sponsors: Google, DuPont, Texas Instruments, Airforce.com, CDC, Lockheed Martin, Young Epidemiology Scholars, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Army ROTC, Ward’s Science, Discovery Education, FOX, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Museum of Science and Industry.
22 Events, Division B (Grades 6-8)https://www.soinc.org/2017_div_b_events
5 Branches of Science
•Life, Personal & Social Science
•Earth & Space Science
•Physical Science & Chemistry
•Technology & Engineering
•Inquiry & Nature of Science
2016-2017 Division B Events (www.virginiaso.com)
LIFE, PERSONAL & SOCIAL SCIENCE
Anatomy & Physiology (Test)
Disease Detectives *States Only (Test)
Ecology (Test)
Invasive Species (Test)
Microbe Mission (Lab)
EARTH & SPACE SCIENCE
Dynamic Planet (Test)
Meteorology (Test)
Reach for the Stars (Test)
Road Scholar (Hands-on)
Rocks and Minerals (Test)
PHYSICAL SCIENCE & CHEMISTRY
Crime Busters (Lab)
Food Science (Lab)
Hovercraft (Build)
Optics (Test)
Wind Power (Build)
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING
Mission Possible (Build)
Scrambler (Build)
Towers (Build)
Wright Stuff (Build)
INQUIRY & NATURE OF SCIENCE
Experimental Design (Hands-on)
Fast Facts (Lab)
Write it, Do It (Hands-on)
Types of Events
1. Testing Events• Take a test on the subject they have been assigned
• “Cheat” sheet
2. Engineering/Building Events
3. Lab Events
www.virginaso.com
Anatomy & Physiology
Invasive Species (species and ecosystems)
Reach for the Stars (astronomy)
Wright Stuff
(build glider capable of maximum time aloft)
Wind Power
(build blade attached to a CD
to capture wind power)
Towers
(build lightest bridge with highest structural
efficiency)
Crime Busters (forensics)
Food Science (analyze milk
products)
What will you be doing?
Processing Skills: Build a solid foundation of knowledge by gathering information
• Observation
• Classification
• Measurement
Reasoning Skills: Develop new knowledge by making sense of the information through a data-based approach to understanding the world
• Prediction
• Testing
• Assessment
Critical Thinking Skills: Make use of new knowledge in solving problems by identifying and analysing rather than intuition or instinct.
• Inference
• Communication
Maximum of 15 students/team
Parent-led:
• Parents are required to lead 1 or 2 events for a student to be on the team.
• Parents do not need to be knowledgeable in the event; make sure students know rules, guide them in research on-line, structure preparation…
Student Time Commitment:
• Students are required to participate in 3-4 events.
• Approximately 1 1/2 hours/week/event (longer sessions for engineering events); may meet 2x/week leading up to a tournament.
CommitmentParents & Students
Coaching ResponsibilitiesBe the main resource for the students
• Permitted event reference materials at competition
• Make sure the students KNOW the rules!
• Stay on top of rule changes and clarifications (virginiaso.com & soinc.org)
Resources/Study materials
• Event manual
• Science Olympiad websites
• Other research materials
Help the students “own” their events
• Set goals or tasks to be accomplished before next meeting
• Make students accountable for researching, give a specific topic to work on before the next meeting
Frequency of practices
Types of practices necessary for event
“All events are not created equally”
*Study Events
-Group, Lab, E-mail, On-line
-Binders, reference materials, “cheat” sheet
*Building Events
-Construction sessions, Practice sessions
-Construction and practice locations
-Safety and Liability
Competition Dates2016-2017
Nationals
May 19-20, 2017@ Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio
States
March 25, 2017 @ UVA Charlottesville
Regionals
Jan 28, 2017 @ Charlottesville High School, Charlottesville VA
Invitational (optional)
Dec 10, 2016 @ Lanier MS, Fairfax VA
Building Event Informational (optional)
Nov 12, 2016@Longfellow MS
COSTTeam cost:
•$270 registration
•Rules manual
•Team T-shirts
•Regional Competition Lunch (Pizza & drinks)
•Total registration cost per member $40
Individual cost per event:
•Teaching CD’s/book for more information
$16.00/2 team members = $8.00 http://store.soinc.org/c-21-materials-for-2016-competitions.aspx
•Building/Lab materials $15-$60/ team member
•Ward’s Science for building/lab materials: www.wardsci.com
•Teaching/Coaches Manual: $16/2 members = $8.00http://store.soinc.org/c-21-
materials-for-2016-competitions.aspx
•Quizlet
•Scioly: www.scioly.org
• Go to www.virginiaso.com and read about the
different events offered.
• Choose your top 6 choices
• Submit your form by Tuesday, Oct. 4
• You will find the form link on HPMS website
• Teams will be formed by: Monday, Oct. 10
• Come to the first SO meeting on Oct 14 @ 7:30pm:
get assignments, meet partners, coaches, sign
contracts & pick up paperwork
Please email Pink or Anu if you have any questions at
What to do next…
Air Trajectory
(4th)
•Sydney Meyer
•Vivian Chen
Dynamic Planet
(6th)
•Muskaan Mohal
•Sean Cheng
Entomology
(4th)
•Sydney Meyer
•Vivian Chen
Achievements 2014-15Elastic Launch Glider
(1st)
•Ethan Kim
•Matthew Newcomer
Green Generation
(4th)
•Kunal Kagalwala
•Andrew Ho
Achievements 2015-16Air Trajectory (4th, Team Maroon)•Zachary Ho•Anusha Panvalkar
Anatomy & Physiology (4th, Team Maroon)•Ethan Kim•Trisha Maheshwari
Crave the Wave (5th, Team Maroon)•Maanya Shankar•Marc Rosenthal
Crime Busters(2nd, Team Maroon)•Saurav Banerjee•Ethan Kim
Dynamic Planet (4th, Team Maroon)•Arushi Garg•Shahley Nagra
Elastic Launched Glider (2nd, Team Maroon)•Ethan Kim•Matthew Newcomer
Green Generation(1st, Team Maroon)•Matthew Newcomer•Maanya Shanker
Picture This (2nd, Team Maroon)•Kunal Kagalwala•Zachary Ho
Reach for the Stars (5th, Team Maroon)•Kunal Kagalwala•Nick Leone
Road Scholar (2nd, Team Maroon)•Marc Rosenthal•Maanya Shanker
Scrambler (4th, Team Maroon)•Nick Leone•Saurav Banerjee
Write it, Do It (1st, Team Grey)•Aidan Carraretto•Nikhil Kamath
Write it, Do it (2nd, Team Maroon)•Trisha Maheshwari•Ethan Kim
Experimental Design (3rd, Team Maroon)•Matthew Newcomer•Nick Leone•Kunal Bahl
Fossils
(3rd, Team Grey)
•Nikhil Kamath
•Arteom Avvestissian
Fossils
(3rd, Team Grey)
•Tiffany Widjaja
•Saurav Banerjee